Chaise, lounge and the like



April 24, 1962 Filed Sept. 16, 1959 F. TYDOR CHAISE, LOUNGE AND THE LIKE 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVEN TOR FRED TYDOR,

ATTORNEY.

April 24, 1962 F. TYDOR 3,0

CHAISE, LOUNGE AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 16, 1959 2 sneaks-sheet 2 INVEN TOR, FRED TVDOR,

ATTORN EV- astzz Patented Apr. 24, 19%2 York Filed Sept. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 842,545 4 Claims. (Cl. 297-323) The present invention relates to chaises and lounges and is applicable to those which are foldable or not foldable.

An item of this class includes a body-supporting member extending forwardly from a chair structure of which 1t is the seat. Such forwardly extending seat member has a leg structure at its forward end and the chair has its usual back member and legs. I prefer that this seat member have an upward bend across it, forwardly of the chair because I intend to raise the forward end of the seat upwardly to have the item serve as a contour chair, a term it is commonly called when the seat is in such raised position.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved item of furniture of the class mentioned, in which the tilt of the back member in relation to the seat member can be adjusted and the set angle of such tilt be maintained whether the forward end of the seat member is in its lowered or raised position.

A further object thereof is to provide a novel and improved item of furniture of the character described, in which the user while resting thereon, can easily alter the position of the seat member and of the back member. A change of tilt of the back member will not alter the position of the seat member and a change of position of the seat member will not alter the angular relation of said two members.

A further object thereof is to provide an article of furniture of the class set forth with the mentioned features, which is of simple construction, reasonable in cost to manufacture, easy to use and efficient in carrying out the purposes for which it is designed.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosure proceeds.

For the practice of this invention, one form it may assume is to have an arm chair structure whose seat member extends substantially forwardly therefrom so that the item is a lounge. The forward end of this seat member is provided with a leg and said seat member is pivotally mounted on the chair legs. The rear ends of the arm rests are pivotally secured to the back member. At their forward ends, the arm rests and the chair leg structure are associated with means affording adjustment of the tilt of the back member in relation to the seat member; said back member at its lower end, being pivotally secured to the seat member. At each side of the chair, a handoperated bell crank is pivotally mounted on the seat member, at a region near the pivotal connection of the back member; the handle part of said bell crank being its forwardly extending arm. A comparatively short link is pivotally joined at its ends to the other arm of the bellcrank and to the leg structure of the chair. There is a stop pin on the bell crank against said links forward longitudinal edge; the position of said link being here upright. When the forward end of the bell crank is swung upwardly, the seat member will be swung upwardly at its forward end to a position where the item is a contour chair. The construction at each side of the chair is identical.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a chaise or lounge embodying the teachings of this invention. Here the seat member is in its lower portion with its front foot on the ground. This is the normal condition.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but the levers or bell-cranks as I call them here, have been shifted so that the seat member has been swung to contour chair position with said front foot off the ground.

FIG. 3 is a perspective View of the back frame and its associated arm rests. Portions of the rack plates which are slidably associated with said arm rests, are also shown in this view.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the seat frame.

:FIG. 5 is an enlarged face view of one of the rack plates which is part of the mechanism to adjust the tilt of the back member in relation to the seat member.

FIG. 6, drawn to the same scale as FIG. 5, shows the front end view of the arm rest nearest the observer of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the means for tilting the seat member without any substantial change in the set angle between the back and seat members.

In the drawings showing a preferred embodiment of this invention, the foldability of the chaise or lounge indicated generally by the numeral 15 shall be disregarded and this item of furniture shall be considered only in its use positions and condition illustrated in the FIGS. 1 and 2, where the frame structure comprising the legs 16, 17 and their connecting brace it; are rigid and swingably support the seat member 19 for movement about the axis 2%. Near the back of the seat member are the opposite securely attached upwardly extending lugs 21 to which the lower end of the back member 22 is swingably secured for movement about the axis 23. The arm rests 24 at their rear ends are swingably attached to the back member for movement about the axis 25. There is usually a leg 26 at the front end of the seat member 19. On each of the lugs 21, at 4-1, there is a pivotally mounted bell-crank 27, having the forwardly extending handle arm 28. This bell-crank shape is used to provide a mount for the stop pin 29 which is against the forward longitudinal edge of a substantially upright link 35 said link being rather short in length, and pivoted at its ends to the rigid frame structure at 31 on leg 16 and at 32 on the rearward part of the bell-crank or lever 27.

It is evident that upon any change in the distance between the pivotal connections 25 and 33, the back member 22 will be shifted to change the angle it makes with the seat member 19. Many arrrangements are employable for this purpose, but I have shown one which I have designed, namely, the arm rest 24 presents an inverted channel 34 in which is a slidably fitted toothed plate 35 whose downwardly forward tab 35' is pivotally mounted at 33 to the leg 17. A pin 36, extending through plate 35 beyond both faces, rides and is turnable in the opposite longitudinal grooves 37 which are along the opposite inner walls of said channel 34. A pin 38 which is through the slot 39 in said plate 35, is secured to the arm rest 24-, and said arm rest can be manipulated so that said pin 38 engages any one of the teeth 40. Changing the position of said pin 38 along the slot 39, will move the back member 22 to change the angle it makes with the seat member 19, and such change is independent of the position of the seat member in relation to the ground.

To bring down the rearward end of the seat member 19 to accomplish the condition shown in FIG. 2, the lever 27 is swung counter-clockwise in FIG. 7 or FIG. 1, to the position shown in FIG. 2. This can be done, up and back, by the person resting on the lounge.

This invention is applicable to chair-like structures generally, though its preferred use is for the chaise or lounge type illustrated.

This invention is capable of numerous forms and various applications without departing from the essential features herein disclosed. It is therefore intended and desired that the embodiment shown herein be deemed merely illustrative and not restrictive and that the patent shall cover all patentable novelty herein set forth; reference being had to the following claims rather than to the specific description herein to indicate the scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a chair, chaise or lounge structure, a seat member, a back member swingably mounted near its lower end on said seat member; said seat member being swingably mounted between the front and rear ends thereof, at a region of said structure forward of the back member, an arm rest pivotally mounted at its rear end to the back member, a support on said structure adjacent the arm rest forward of said rear pivotal connection of the arm rest, co-operating means on said support and arm rest to adjust the distance between said pivotal connection and said support whereby the angle the back member makes with the seat member is changed, a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends to the seat structure at the region of the pivotal connection of the back member to the seat member; said lever having a portion thereof extending rearwardly of its pivotal connection to the seat member and a link pivotally joined at its ends to said rearward portion of the lever and to said structure respectively, whereupon turning said lever to move its rearward portion downward, the seat member will be shifted so that its rear end is lowered and its front end is raised; the set angular relation between the seat and back members remaining substantially constant at all times.

2. An article as set forth in claim 1, wherein said link is positioned substantially upright when the rearward portion of said lever is in its raised position.

3. An article as defined in claim 1, wherein the seat member extends substantially forward of its pivotal connection and is provided with a foot at its forward region, resting on the ground when the rearward portion of said lever is in its raised position.

4. An article as defined in claim 1, wherein the rearwardly extending portion of the lever has a laterally extending pin; said pin being in contact with the forward longitudinal edge of said link when the rearward portion of the lever is in its raised position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

